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Friday, May 20, 2011

"Please Excuse the Mess"

Is what I say whenever company comes in the door.  It doesn't matter who. It doesn't matter when.  I say, "please excuse the mess."

You want the truth? Usually I have just cleaned.
Well.... sort of cleaned.  Ok, Ok! - I haven't dusted since last summer.  Ray does the sweeping.  And... we do clean, but - 10 minutes later the house is destroyed again. Often things get thrown on our bed in piles and the bedroom door gets shut - and no one better open it.

Tonight we had guests over for dinner.  Only 1 member of the family of 5 had ever been to our house - so I really did want it to look nice. But then I ran out of energy and went back to my "running piles of junk to the bedroom" mode.  At one point, I picked up the huge pile of shoes inside the door to run and throw them inside the closet... only to discover a huge pile of dirt under the place where the shoes once resided! It was at this point that I turned my head and discovered it... toys under the table that I was too tired to pick up.

Instead I grabbed my camera and decided to "out" myself.  If you want to know what "Please excuse the mess" really means.... here you go:

Exhibit A: The Kitchen.... looks very clean:

 But upon closer look...
 Oh... where to begin here: The top of the fridge
Basket full of crayons, markers, coloring books, and stickers
Phone books, Basket full of hats and gloves (yes... winter)
Bucket filled with foam stickers
Diastat boxes, Toys that needed hiding, and a video camera. (sigh)
 Notice the dirt on the window sill also....

 Exhibit B: Living Room - Appears clean

Upon closer look - stuff is shoved everywhere

Exhibit C: Bathroom - Again.. Appears Clean

Upon Closer Look....
I really have to tell my guests I'm sorry....
The honest truth was - there were pictures I could not put on here for utter embarrassment.
Finally, I've outed myself.
Please excuse my mess....


posted by Kristen @ 9:47 PM   9 Comments

9 Comments:

At May 20, 2011 at 10:05 PM , Blogger Diana said...

Well thank you for letting me know I'm not alone ;-) We clean (and yes, my husband does most of it) but you could never tell. We usually make the downstairs look presentable, but usually everything else is crammed into our bedrooms and my husband's office. We just cannot keep the house clean longer than 3 days at a time. My excuse is " I have twins" you have "twins and a baby" so even better :D Just wanted you to know you are not alone ;-)

 
At May 20, 2011 at 10:14 PM , Blogger Marsha said...

You are definately NOT alone on this one!!! I feel like I'm in a never-ending battle with the house. We clean, seems I'm cleaning all the time, but there is always something that gets neglected. Our bedroom stays shut too...its the last one to ever get worked on. Thanks for sharing and making me feel so much better!!!

 
At May 20, 2011 at 10:29 PM , Blogger Awn said...

Kristen, one of my favorite things that my mom does is how she "reds up" for company. One time the bills ended up in the produce drawer of the fridge and bread ended up in the tupperware drawer. That was when company unexpectedly turned up and she only had approximately 30 seconds to clean up. Thank heavens the company was old (sorry Aunt Mary Jane), no one asked for a nice veggie plate or some toast. Otherwise you and she have the same M.O. There's a reason no one gets a tour of the house that includes the upstairs...it's where crap goes to die.

 
At May 20, 2011 at 10:39 PM , Blogger Non-Stop Mom said...

That's it. I love you.

I am about to give up. This house is so tiny, so there just isn't room for a lot of stuff. There are toys everywhere, I sweep and vacuum the floors multiple times a day, do 12-15 loads of laundry per week, run the dishwasher at least once a day, and still...

...it looks like a bunch of pigs live here.

*sigh*

If the world does end tomorrow, I guess I don't have to worry about it, huh?

 
At May 20, 2011 at 11:02 PM , Blogger Kristen said...

Thanks guys! Amy... 1250 square feet of tiny. I so feel your pain! Our "master" bedroom is 10x11. There is this old Doug Stone song from 1980 something called "Love Grows Best in Little Houses." When I think of us - that song pops into my head. :)

 
At May 20, 2011 at 11:08 PM , Blogger Non-Stop Mom said...

I don't think we even have that much room - we moved from a giant 2-story house with 4 bedrooms/basement/attic to a 2 bedroom with no basement and no attic -- with 5 kids. I don't even have a bedroom :( but it's only temporary. I have gotten rid of so much stuff that it's not even funny!

 
At May 21, 2011 at 12:30 AM , Blogger everettrj said...

Oh sweet momma, you know you are not alone, and NEVER will be! No one is showroom perfection if there are children still living in the house. noone. I sweep/vacuum at least twice a day, and still go to bed with dirty floors somehow, someway each and every night. So right before I start to have one of my "I just cannot take another second of this cluttered chewed on, tattered and scribbled on mess!" hissy's, I stop take a deep breath, and say to myself (several times if need be) 'one day there will be no Cheerios under the couch cusions. There will be only dining room chairs and none with brightly colored, buckling seats that have removable tray tables. No trucks or trains tucked under my pillows or plastic tubs to fill with the same plastic toys 3-4 times a day every day. And when THOSE days come, I already know I will probably pass them by reminicing about these days. :) love you to pieces you perfectly perfect momma you! xoxo

 
At May 21, 2011 at 1:14 AM , Blogger Me and My Boys - Krista said...

I LOVE this blog post!!! You probably felt comfortable sharing it because you already know that you're not alone! :) This is totally something that I've been working on for a while now: realizing that the time spent with my family is SO much more important that the amount of time wasted on constantly beating myself up over the fact that I cannot KEEP the house clean. It's stupid and it's a loosing battle...and I've been loosing it for about 5 years now! I finally realized that if I would use the time that I spend beating myself up over not KEEPING it clean to just actually clean, I would be so much more productive. Right there with ya, sister! :)

 
At May 21, 2011 at 10:18 PM , Blogger Lauren said...

Love it. My house is the same way... pretend clean.

 

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